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Lita cringed inwardly as she heard voices just beyond her hotel room door. She exchanged glances with Edge, who was beside her on the bed, and both their eyes widened when they realized the voices belonged to the Hardys.
"Li, let us in!" Matt's voice called, followed by a sharp knock.
The redhead glanced at her boyfriend with worry, and they both rose from the bed quickly but as quietly as possible, each wondering what the two brothers had in mind. The tall blond man motioned that he would go hide in the bathroom, and his girlfriend nodded vigorously. Fortunately, Edge had been keeping most of his belongings in Christian's room. Oddly, the other blond man hadn't asked him where he was spending his nights, but then, he was sharing his own secret girlfriend's hotel room.
Lita watched with concern as the Canadian slipped into the bathroom, closing the door tightly behind him. Only then did she step over to the door and let her friends in.
"Hi, guys," she said, managing to smile and sound cheerful at the same time.
"Where were you?" Matt demanded, referring to the fact that, after their Tag Team title loss, the redhead had been missing in action, where normally, she would have been there for them.
"Oh, I came back here shortly after your match," she lied, hoping neither of them would see right through her. "I feel a bit sore after what Trish and T&A pulled..." She grasped her right shoulder with her left hand, wincing a little for emphasis.
"Poor you..." Jeff said sympathetically, placing one hand to her face. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live," Lita said. "I may just take a nice, hot bath - that might help. I'm sorry I wasn't around before, guys."
"Well, at least we've got you now," the dark-haired brother said. He crossed the room to sit down on the bed. Lita and Jeff neared him, and the redhead sat down by him while the rainbow-haired man pulled out the desk chair, turning it backwards before sitting down.
"Man!" Jeff exclaimed. "As you already know, we lost the Tag Team belts tonight..."
"Yeah, I know," the redheaded diva said with a nod, her expression sad. "I saw that."
Matt frowned with annoyance. "Damn it!" he muttered, punching his left hand with his right. "We lost to-" He stopped in mid-sentence, sniffing the air as he turned his head. Then, glancing back at Lita, he said, "It smells like aftershave in here..."
The Women's champion felt her heart nearly stop and hoped the Hardys wouldn't notice if the blood had just drained from her face. She also prayed she wouldn't suddenly blush. She raised a hand to her hair and said, "Err...it does?"
"Yeah," the elder brother said. "I've smelled that stuff before. Did somebody visit you earlier?"
"Umm...yeah," she replied, again hoping they wouldn't see right through her. "Chris stopped by a little earlier to see how I was doing."
"Oh...well, that explains it," Matt said, and the redhead had to fight against breathing out a sigh of relief. "Anyway, as I was saying, I know those 'Conquistadors' were really Edge and Christian! Did you get a gander at that blond hair sticking out under that mask?"
Lita's heart pounded in triple-time. "Umm...no, not really."
"Damn it! It was that God damned Edge whose mask I took off!" the dark-haired man exclaimed. "Asshole thought he was so smart in wearing two masks! Shit!"
The redhead bit her lip and glanced over at Jeff, who hadn't spoken a word to contribute to his brother's tirade.
"I don't know how or when, but we are gonna get even with those two," Matt said firmly. Lita knew he was being serious, and the look in his brown eyes said it all. She hoped he wouldn't be able to detect the nervousness she was feeling.
"What...what do you think you're gonna do?" she asked.
"I don't know...but believe me, Li - we'll think of something!"
The Women's champion didn't have a reply for that. Finally, she decided they had to leave. She stood up and stretched, yawning for emphasis. "Guys, I'm sorry to make you leave so soon, but...I'm really tired. It's getting late. I'm just gonna take a bath and go to bed."
Jeff took the cue before his older brother did, and he stood up, pushing the chair back into its original position. "Okay. I hope that bath makes you feel better, sweetie," he said. He gestured for Matt to get up and follow him out.
Matt sighed and stood up reluctantly. As the Hardys made their way to the door, Lita right at their heels, he turned back. "I can't wait to take revenge on those two blond bastards for what they did to us tonight!"
"Goodnight, guys." The redhead shut the door behind them, letting out a sigh of relief nearly immediately after they were gone. She leaned against the door heavily for a moment, running her hand through her long hair as she felt her heart still beating a little too fast. Jeez, she'd been nervous. Thank goodness Edge hadn't sneezed or something while he'd been hiding in the bathroom.
Then, as if keeping up with her thoughts, the bathroom door opened, and the tall blond man stepped out. His handsome face wore a bit of a scowl, and he muttered, "Those miserable Hardlys..."
Lita bit her lip as she made her way over to him. She couldn't help feeling a bit guilty for both the Hardys and Edge. She hoped this wouldn't happen very often, as she was feeling somewhat torn between her loyalties.
The tall blond man suddenly smiled as his emerald gaze drank her in. "Thanks," he said as he enveloped her in a tight, warm hug.
"For what?" she asked as she pulled back just enough to gaze up into his eyes.
"You tried to get Matthew Hardy to tell you what he and Jeffrey might have up their sleeves for Christian and me for vengeance," he said. "And even though he claimed he didn't know what they would do yet, you still at least tried - and that means a lot to me." He grinned down at her as he raised a hand to her lovely face.
"Oh..." She managed a weak, half-hearted smile. "I did...I did try." The redhead twined her fingers into his long blond hair and pulled his head down to hers, and Edge kissed her tenderly, passionately.